ACCOUNTABLE TALK:
* HELPS CREATES A SAFE, SUPPORTIVE
LEARNING COMMUNITY
*VALUES EFFORT
*DEVELOPS THINKING DISPOSITIONS
*PRACTICES GIVING AND GETTING FEEDBACK
Laura Scarpulla- Secondary LA Specialist
We retain:

20% of what we hear
40% of what we see and hear
80% of what we see, hear
and do!
Knowles research
Features of accountable talk

Accountability to the learning community involves:
 Careful
listening to others
 Building on each others ideas
 Paraphrasing and seeking clarification
 Respectful disagreement
 Being specific and accurate
 Resisting saying “anything that comes to mind”
 Working to link clear statements, claims and evidence
 Participating in the discussion
Rules in Laura’s Classroom
Share the airspace.
 Listen for periods.
 Connect to someone else’s idea.
 Respectful disagree by using “I” statements.
 Use the text “On page… it says that…”
 Resisting saying “anything that comes to mind”
 Use Teacher Talk- practice sounding super smart
 Invite people into the conversation “Laura, what do you
think?”
 If you are mad, think first, speak third
 Rewind, reword

Accountable talk wall chart

Accountable Talk Prompts
- I wonder why…
- I have a question about…
- I agree with…
- I disagree with…
- That reminds me of…
- I don’t understand…
- I predict…
- I figured out…
- I liked/disliked….
Pair share & Inner/Outer Circle

Know the expectations- model, model, model
I
often use fish-bowls to scaffold
 Teacher or student(s) give feedback regularly, set goals

Pair-share to prepare for the discussion circle
 What
do you see as most useful to you as your try to
spark dialogue amongst your most resistant teachers?

Inner-Outer discussion circle
 Observation
forms help scaffold
 Less formal methods= track the conversation 2 ways
Vocab Review & Spectrum Lines


Pair vocabulary review
 One student faces board, other has his/her back to
board, student facing board gives hints without saying
the vocab word
Spectrum lines- then fold in half and talk
 Right=Monologue is a good way to teach and learn,
prepares students
 Left= Dialogue is a good way to teach and learn,
engages students
Tableaux & Whip About


Tableaux- students freeze frame to represent a scene, word,
concept etc.
Tableaux generally takes the form of a frozen scene or pose
that captures a physical, psychological, or emotional
relationship. Students can represent vocabulary, create mental
models of complex concepts and procedures, or visually
translate a host of themes and ideas- then while in scene, they
explain the concepts and representations to the group or
teacher(s).
Whip About Procedure
 Students answer question on paper, stands up, share
responses by calling on each other, sit if your response is
shared, hear all responses
10 coins in a hat

Ten Coins in a Hat Group
students (4-5), assign roles A-C are talkers, D is
observer.
 Observer keeps the talkers on task. Does not
participate in conversation, but says things like “We’re
getting off topic” or “B hasn’t had a turn yet”
 Students are given a task such as answering a question,
providing opinions, solving a problem.
 Every student gets the same number of coins. When you
take your turn, you put one coin in the hat. Goal= to
get rid of all of your coins.
Retelling Rubric (narrative example)





Use a Retelling Rubric- students get it in advance
 2= exceeds standards
 1= meets standards
 0= needs improvement
Example= CHARACTERS in a story
2= Student provides several important details about main characters.
Student can explain the relationships between characters.
1= Student provides one or two important details about main characters.
Student can explain the relationships between some of the characters.
0= Student is confused about characters or is not familiar with characters.